National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,
has dismissed media reports that he is under pressure to resign from
office.
Mr. Tukur, in a statement he personally signed on Monday
in Abuja, said he is in good accord with President Goodluck Jonathan and
other stakeholders of the PDP.
He also said he is working in
tandem with the elders and stakeholders in the party on the need to
address the challenges facing the PDP.
The party chairman said he
was aware of the antics of “some black legs in and out of the PDP” who
have been funding negative media reports on activities of the party both
at the state and national levels; adding that such antics would come to
nothing because it “won’t go far”.
Mr. Tukur also eulogised the
Nigerian media saying it has come of age and is observing the tenets of
the profession. He, however, expressed dismay that a cross section of
the media appear to ‘predict his failure;’ accusing them of reporting
falsehood against his person and office.
“I had hardly settled
down in office when some newspapers predicted that I would not last
three months. Later, some newspapers wrote that I would resign in
December. Another one said two days ago that I had been asked to resign.
Well, I have spent more than one year in office and they still continue
to write same and same thing all over. I really do not understand
whether Bamanga Tukur is really the media’s problem, or the problem of
faceless individuals who were manufacturing the miserable reports.
“It
was more ludicrous that some people funded a report that I had resigned
when indeed, I was on my way to Canada for an official engagement, and
yet our so called media bought the untruth without shuddering. Then I
ask myself, where is the sense of fairness and professionalism by our
media in this regard?
“The problem is so bad that when members of
our party meet and discuss behind closed doors, the media would say
Bamanga Tukur is the issue. The media do not seem to know that we have
better things to discuss in our party than issue of crises,” he said.
Tukur said he is not contemplating resigning from office, because he
still has a lot to offer both to the party and Nigeria as a whole
“Let
me reiterate that I am not resigning and I have no intention of doing
so as an elected National Chairman of PDP. I accepted to become chairman
based on my conviction that I can use my wealth of experience to help
my party and my country.
“I am not looking for anything at my age
other than putting it on record that God has helped me, and then, I am
using the opportunities he gave me to serve the rest of Nigeria to the
best of my abilities. I will not relent in using the Good office given
to me by God to bring peace into the party.
The party chairman
appealed to members to close ranks, saying, “It is on this note that I
appeal to all our members to come together to face the challenges
confronting us as a party. If we must remain the strongest party that we
are in Africa, it is high time we bury the hatchets and begin to close
ranks.”
“It is in our party’s interest and indeed, in the interest
of President Goodluck Jonathan to have us get back on the track while
regaining the grooves that have been making us tick, unbeatable and
widely accepted. To do otherwise is to yield the grounds to the
propagandists who have been masquerading as our opponents even with the
nebulous interest of getting power in 2015,” he said,
Tukur,
however, said as a Nigerian who had served in high capacities at the
global level, and who had assisted in bringing business opportunities to
Nigeria as the President of the NEPAD business group and who is
currently heading Africa’s largest political party, he would never make a
fuss by subjecting the process of his resignation from PDP to media
hype and needless conjectures.
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